Robert Garfias was born in San Francisco in 1932, the child of Mexican-American parents. As a youngster he studied classical guitar and jazz saxophone. In high school he studied Western classical music composition, and he formed a jazz combo that played gigs for beatniks in the North Beach area of San Francisco, where he traveled in a circle of musicians that included Dave Brubeck, Vince Delgado, Vince Guaraldi, Harry Partch, and Bill Smith. During his career he founded the ethnomusicology program at the University of Washington; served as Dean of Arts at the University of California, Irvine, as a member of the Smithsonian Council, and as a presidential appointee to the U.S. National Council for the Arts; and conducted significant periods of fieldwork and language study in Japan, Okinawa, Korea, the Philippines, Mexico, Zimbabwe, Central America, Burma, Romania, Turkey, Spain, Portugal, and among Okinawans in the United States.
- Society for Ethnomusicology Newsletter (Vol. 7, No. 4, September 2013)
Country blues (Piedmont): Jesse Fuller/fotdella, guitar (amplified) and vocals (also cymbal, harmonica and kazoo)
Recorded by Robert Garfias, Dan Grinstead, Byong Won Lee, and Margaret Devine with Nagra III, Arriflex 16mm (filmed in color)
Contents:
68-18.1 (S20) - S418/S-a-1: The Woman I Had, She Left Me Cold in Hand; Running Wild; S418/S-b: San Francisco Bay Blues
68-18.2 (S21) - S419/S-a: John Henry; S419/S-b: Glad Salvation's Free; Hark from the Tomb; S419-c: William Tell Overture (played on guitar; not filmed)
For video versions of films see - NK1 United States/96-18.5 (VHS) or NK1 United States/96-18.14 (Betacam)
For description of film originals, prints, etc., see 1996 film inventory.
Also see "Roots of American Music" (NK1/93-21) (VHS copy).
Audio tapes digitized 3/2016 (WAV, 48 kHz, 24-bit) - 68-18.1.wav (10:51), 68-18.2.wav (12:28)
Documentation: Brief biography of performer
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